Deep well pump travelling valve



Oct. 22, 1957 w. F. LAFFERRE 2,810,353

DEEP WELL PUMP TRAVELLING VALVE Filed Sept. 1, 1955 7 a 4 Z /-'\IO I -sz 3|- FIG. 2 4 IINVENTOR.

' vg u'AM F. LAFFERRE FIG. ,I

ATTORNEYS DEEP WELL PUMP TRAVELLING VALVE Wiiliam F. Lafierre, Deerlield, Mich., assignor, by direct and mesne assignments, to Laman Valve Company, Detroit, Mich, a corporation of Michigan Application September 1, 1955, Serial No. 532,037

Claims. (Cl. 103-225) from the well to the surface, since, in most cases, there is insufiicient pressure within the ground to sustain a flow of oil to the surface. One way in which this pumping operation is accomplished is'that of inserting a narrow gauge pipe through the center of the oil well casing. Suspended within this pipeis a travelling valve mechanism which operates as a pump to' pump oil through the pipefrom the bottom of the well to a receptacle or piping system at the surface thereof.

These conventional pumping valves usually consist of a barrel which isoscillated upward and downward within the piping and which, on one of the strokes, has an interior closing mechanism which closes off the valve and to force oil to the surface. The closing mechanism in these devices are almost universally a ball which is adapted to fit into a seat. Thus, the ball and seat mechanism is the framework around which the pumping valve is built.

The use of the conventional type of pumping mechanisms has resulted in a large number of problemsin the maintenance and operation of an oil well. Thus, after a short period of operation, the ball, and the socket, into which it fits, tends to become clogged with paraffin and other impurities which are within the raw petroleum, Moreover, any rust which forms on the ball or nited States Patent 0 and therefore, when the ball and socket does not close properly, the valve must .be pulled from the well, for either replacement or repair. It can be seen that where the valve is suspended many hundreds of feet within the earth, removal ,of the valvebecomesan expensive proposition, and requires. a great deal of labor. 1

Thus, 'itis an object of mytinvention'to form anaveiling'va'lve for pumping wells, such as oil wells and the like; which valve does not. incorporate" the conventional ball and socket closing mechanism, and which provides a positive and forceful action which keeps the valve operating at all times regardless of impurities in the fluid in the well.

A further object of my invention is to provide a closing mechanism within the valve which consists of a valve head which may be drawn into contact with a valve seat under a great deal of pressure so that the valve head 2,810,353 Patented Oct. 22, 1957 and seat stop all leakage of fluids therebetween, and so that the pressure crushes impurities and rust, and moreover, the pressure upon the fluid within the valve forces out all impurities to prevent the valve from becoming clogged.

Still another object of my invention is to provide a valve wherein the valve mechanism comprises a valve head and a valve seat which may be so tightly drawn together to prevent leakage that the valve efliciency is so increased as to provide a faster and more eflicient action over the conventional types of valves now on the market and in use.

These and other objectsof my invention will become apparent upon reading the following description, of which the attached drawings form a part.

Referring to the drawings:

Fig. l is a view, partially in cross-section, showing my novel travelling valve in operative position within a pipe suspended in an oil well and with the valve head being in its closed or seated position.

Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the valve and shows the valve head in its open position.

After an oil well is drilled and the bore is cased, a pipe, which is generally designated as 10 in Fig. l, is inserted into the cased bore. This pipe functions to carry oil from the base of the well to the surface of the ground. Suspended within this pipe is the travelling valve, generally designated as 11, which valve is supported by a support tube 12 to be defined in greater detail later.

Referring to Fig. 2, which illustrates a cross-sectional view of the valve 11, the valve comprises a travelling barrel formed with an upper portion 14 and a lower or protective skirt portion 15. Journaled within the upper portion is a travelling valve rod 16 which fits into a hollowed-out portion or bore 17 of the valve barrel. This rod fits quite closely within the bore 17, but is spaced far enough away from the walls thereof so that therodmay be oscillated up and down without binding within the bore. 7

The upper end of the valve rod 16 is threaded at 18 and around this' thread a nut 19 is positioned. The nut 19 functions as a means for stopping the'downward travel of the valve rod into the body of the valve.

As can be seen, the threaded portion 18 of the valve rod extends a distance .above the nut and is inserted into a threaded opening in the support tube 12. a

The support tube or rod 12 extends all the way to the surface of the oil well, and is attached to any conventional pumping machinery which forces the support tube or rod 12. up and down to thereby oscillate the valve body 11 up and down. The length of travel of the valve body-11'may be approximately two feet up and-two feet down in normaloperation. However, the details of this willbe discussed below. I w 7 The lower end of the valve rod 16 terminates within thetlowerbarrel portion lSv/hich, as can be seen, is 'of a greater dimension than the upper portion 14; Secured to the lower end of the valve rod is a valve head 21 arranged'toseatagainst a valve seat 22 formed withinthe lower1p orti0n15. Justabove the valve seat a number of drain openings 23 are provided and in the area of the drain openings, the valve barrel isv relieved at 24 to form a high pressure chamber. In addition; if desired, the lower end of the valve rod 16 may also be cut away at 25 to increase the size of the high pressure chamber 24.

It is to be noted that the valve head is formed as a truncated cone at 26 and the valve seat is complementary to this shape so that the valve seats mate tightly together when the valve rod 16 is pulled upward.

3 A hollow tube 30 having a threaded upper end is threaded into a lower open end of the valve barrel portion 15. In Figure 2, it can be seen that the tube 30 is hollow and is open at its lower end. The tube 30 carries a number of cups or washers 31 which may be made out of leather or some resilient material such as rubber or plastic and which are dimensioned so as to make tight contact with the inner wall 32 of the pipe inserted into the well. These cups may be constructed in any suitable manner so long as they form a tight frictional contact with the wall 32.

In operation, the length of the stroke of the valve head within the valve barrel is predetermined by rotating the stop nut 19 to any desired position. Thereafter, the support tube or rod 12 which, as mentioned before, is connected to a pumping mechanism, which. may be any mechanical device provided for the purposes of raising and lowering the tube 12, is oscillated somewhere in the neighborhood of two feet up and down. This distance is by no means critical and can be varied considerably under different well conditions.

When the tube 12 is pulled upward by its pumping mechanism, the valve head 21 is tightly seated within the seat 22 and further force of the support tube 12 causes the valve body or barrel to raise upward and the washers or cups to cause a partial vacuum in the tube on the side away from or below the cups.

When the support tube 12 is then pushed downward, the valve head opens and thereafter the stop nut comes into contact with the top of the valve body 14 to force the valve body downward. The downward movement of the valve body of barrel with the valve head open causes oil to go through the hollow tube 30, around the valve head and the valve seat, and out through the oil drain openings 23. The next upward stroke of the support tube or rod 12 raises the oil which has been drained out of the barrel through openings 23, and again causes a vacuum below the cups to therefore prime the oil for further upward flow.

Because of the friction between the washers or cups and the inner wall 32 of the pipe 10, the valve head is tightly pulled against the valve seat 22, and the force required to lift the valve barrel and the cups and washers is asserted through the valve head to the valve seat. Therefore, any impurities or rust or other matter such as paraffin or the like, which may be deposited upon the valve head through the oil being pumped, is immediately crushed because of this force. In addition, the fast upward movement of the valve caused by the upward movement of the support rod 12 forms a temporary high pressure area in the chamber 24 which high pressure is relieved by a quick flow of oil through the open ings 23. This quick flow is due to the oil which is trapped in the chamber and which is caused to flow into the chamber by the upward motion of the valve head i 21. Because of this fast high pressure flow of oil, the openings 23 are always cleaned out on each stroke of the valve, and will not become gummy or in other ways clogged up.

It has been found that, because of this high pressure chamber means for cleaning the oil drain openings 23 and because of the high pressure upon the valve head and the valve seat to crush all impurities therebetween, and thereby result in a tight seal, this valve will operate at least one-third more efliciently than the conventional ball and seat type valve currently available on the market.

In addition, the valve head being located within the enlarged barrel portion 15 is protected at all times against impurities or large objects which may be found in the fluid and from shocks caused by striking an object either during the time of insertion of the valve into the well or removal of the valve from the well.

This invention may be further developed within the scope of the following attached claims. Accordingly, it is desired that the foregoing description be read as being merely illustrative of one operative embodiment of my invention, and not in a strictly limiting sense.

Having fully described one operative embodiment of my invention, I now claimf 1. In a deep well pump travelling valve or plunger means, a vertically arranged vertically and axially bored elongated travelling valve barrel provided with an upper bore and an elongated barrel bore having between and remote from the ends of the barrel bore an internally projecting short annular shoulder Whose lower surface is formed as a valve seat, the lower end of the barrel thus providing a protective skirt for the seat, the barrel having small drain openings above the seat and communicating the bore somewhat above the seat with the outer surface of the barrel, and a travelling valve rod within the barrel having its upper end fittingclosely inside the upper bore above the drain openings, to be sealed and guided thereby, and having its lower end enlarged to form a valve head, the upper surface of such head being formed for seating engagement with the valve seat of the barrel bore shoulder lower surface when the valve rod is pulled upwardly in the barrel bore, and means on the rod above the barrel for engaging the upper end of the barrel as the rod moves downwardly for terminating the downward movement of the rod free of the barrel and for initiating downward movement of the barrel with further downward movement of the rod.

2. A combination as defined in claim 1, wherein the head is of smaller transverse dimension than the barrel bore below the bore seat to permit oil flow past the head when the latter is clear of the bore seat.

3. A combination as defined in claim 1, including an annular external pipe seal secured to and carried by the barrel skirt well below the bore seat.

4. A combination according to claim 1, wherein the bore seat shoulder is only a short distance below the drain openings and wherein the bore is enlarged between the bore seat shoulder and the drain openings to provide an auxiliary chamber in the bore between the bore seat and the drain openings.

5. A combination as defined in claim 1, and wherein the head is of smaller transverse dimension than the barrel bore below the bore seat to permit oil flow past the head when the latter is clear of the bore seat, and wherein the bore seat shoulder is only a short distance below the drain openingsand wherein the bore is enlarged between the bore seat shoulder and the drain openings to provide an auxiliary chamber in the bore between the bore seat and the drain openings.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 161,077 Tongas Mar. 23, 1875 1,181,457 Jones May 2, 1916 1,275,420 Graves Aug. 13, 1918 1,539,725 Eden May 26, 1925 1,799,415 Fowell Apr. 7, 1931 

